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The Welcoming Gates

History has come full circle with the return of the historic Victoria Park Gates to their original position on City Road near the corner of City Road and Parramatta Road.

In a simple ceremony to mark the move, the Lord Mayor of Sydney, Clover Moore MP and the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Gavin Brown rededicated the gates which now stand at the site of University's original entrance, leading through Victoria Park up to the magnificent sandstone quadrangle.

"These gates symbolize the openness of the University to the wider community and our close links with the City of Sydney," the Vice-Chancellor said. "I think of them as the welcoming gates".

In 1924, when the University of Sydney did a land swap with the Council it handed the land for Victoria Park to the City in exchange for a parcel of land where the main library and other buildings now stand on Eastern Avenue.

The sandstone pillars and iron gates which had marked the entrance to the University since 1870 were relocated further along City Road in the 1940s.

In 2004, following the joint initiative of the university and council planners it was agreed that the Council and the University would cooperate to move the gates back to their original position, on their original footings directly in line with the University's historic quadrangle clock tower and bell chamber.

The gates as they originally stood on City Rd

Lord Mayor Clover Moore MP said the gates were a significant piece of Sydney's history."Sydney University has a long history with Australian education. Now these magnificent gates have been saved and we celebrate the past, the present and the future," Ms Moore said.